I also have done the Doctor shopping. I had a Hysterectomy in August of 2001(Due to severe Endometriosis) and had what you would call a VERY generous Surgeon/GYN who kept me on
Percocets and Vicodins for about 3 months. By then of course, I was hooked by the great feeling I got from them. No stress, no worries, happy, productive, more social, etc..... Basically living my life in an opiate haze. Just floating on a warm, soft cloud, and loving it.
So after the GYN decided that I no longer needed Narcotics for pain, the Dr. shopping started. At the worst part of my Addiction, I was seeing 3 Doctors, paying cash at every visit and using a specific Pharmacy for each Dr., again paying with cash. And of course I was also buying off the street - This was at my very worst. I was taking up to 30 Vicodins per day, JUST to not get W/D, and any opiate I could get to get as high as I could get. I blew through thousands of dollars and ended up getting hooked on
Fentanyl pain patches - not wearing them but "cheeking" them. I actually wished I would get some type of physical injury or illness that would allow me to need pain meds every month.....
I had to move home to my Moms house as I had no money and one day she found me unconsious on the floor and I was taken to the ER in a Narcotic induced coma and a blood sugar level of 456 - and that is NOT a typo.
I finally got help and went the
Suboxone route for 6 months and it was a miracle medication for me. I was able to get sober from all the pills. It was the toughest thing I have EVER done, but I am sure it saved my life. This was in 2003.
Then, in November of 2004 I DID injure my back (Slipped disks at L3, L4, and
L5 and tore a disk also.) Developed severe arthritis throughout my back also. I went through P/T, 6 MRI's, two surgical consults, 3 Cortisone Injections and went from Vicodin to Percocet to
Oxycontin then to Dilaudid and then
Morphine - I got my wish, I guess..I now need pain meds every single day..... NOT what I wanted as it turns out. As they say, be careful what you wish for......I now NEED the pain meds to move and to function and I still live with pain. Only now it is true physical pain and not the "emotional pain" as it was before.
My story is just to tell you that I, along with others I am sure, have Doctor shopped. I was scared all the time of being caught but that didn't stop me. And I am sure that because I paid cash for every visit and every script is the reason I was never caught. I DID have Health Insurance, but claimed I did not.
Since 2001, Doctor shopping has become a major public awareness issue and now there are SO many ways that you will get caught. And then Red Flagged at Pharmacies, etc..... To anyone who is Doctor shopping, I am NOT judging you because I did it as well.....but I would say STOP Immediately!!
If my story helped anyone, I am glad. I wish so much that I never got started with the pain meds...but I did. And being an Addict (in recovery), but now NEEDING the pain meds, well, this is sometimes a hard position to be in.
It actually feels good to get my story out although I am very ashamed. But if this post helps even just ONE person, then admitting all of this was worth it.
Doctor Shopping............. 
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